Old friends and air travel

Some of our girls from the IVA program came back to visit us on Saturday.  It was nice to catch up with Oksana and Sasha...

...as well as Lena.

Did I forget to mention that we were going to Sweden?  Yes, we are currently here and will be for 10 days.  Other than a brief problem at passport control on the way out of Kiev, everything went well.

We got to see the girls again at the airport.  My old friend Lena (on the far left) brought her twin sister Inna (I think you can figure out which she is).  Of course my new friend Lena (next to me in the back) was there and we had a nice 15 minutes before we had to go through security.  It was Lena and Inna's birthday so it was nice to give them some chocolates and wish them a good day.

Cam and Sarry on the first flight (Simferopol-Kiev)
This is Stockholm.  What a cool city!  It is spread across dozens of islands on the east coast and I have really liked the feel and atmosphere so far.  It is nice break from eastern Europe.
There will be more photos and adventures to follow but for now I have to sign off and go get some groceries.

More of the boy...

We are relaxing today... or trying to in between Cam's tantrums.  He's a bit sick and all week if something doesn't go his way, he loses his MIND!  Nonetheless, a few nice moments slipped in.

Cheesy smile... no seriously, he's actually saying "cheese."

No idea where we got these but they seem to work for him

Just cute.

Like father, like son.... except his is a puffy sticker and didn't require $400 and 4 hours of his time.

Current Events: George(-ia) and Obama

Sorry for the bad pun in the title.  I have 2 thoughts for today:

1.  I came across a fantastic piece on the Georgia-Russia war by Michael Totten.  It is long but I assure you it is worth it for perspective on the conflict.

2.  Ok, this Obama thing....

I have seen some hero worship of politicians in my past 12 years as a voter but I am truly amazed by the degree to which people are nuts about Obama.  I have seen college classmates act like giddy 14 year old girls when Bill Clinton was on Leno.  I have seen kids not old enough to vote volunteering massive hours to the re-elect GW campaign with little or no actual grasp of issues or policies; just a dislike of those with a (D).  But this....

I am going to post an excerpt from a recent blog I read.  I don't see any reason to give the source but I will say that it's someone I know and respect.  If he/she reads this and recognizes their words they are welcome to claim them but since I am being critical, I will just leave them anonymous for now.

i finally get it.

no more petty attacks or judgments on those who are on the other side. we don’t have time, like obama says, to play games and villify those who differ from us in politics, social issues, religion, anything…there is no time and space in the urgent circumstances today to fight about republican or democrat, conservative or liberal…red or blue. we have bigger fish to fry. yes we do! yes we can!

…it’s quite a moment. on the day of mlk jr’s speech about his dreams of black and white joining together as the US of America, obama is on the same thread articulating it in terms of red and blue…coming together as americans who love this country and want to make a change for the better…a new day is surely dawning… 

I really can only say...  

He is just a man!  A significantly flawed and unwise man from my perspective, but surely a man.  He is a politician and he will not change how politics works because he's beholden to the system; it's gotten him where he is today.  His speech last night in the halls of the Greek gods (haha) may have been beautiful but it was only words.

Let's have some perspective.

Moonbats in Denver

Don't worry you non-political folks, this particular video is mostly unrelated to the DNC in Denver.  It's coverage of a protest at the Denver mint and the reporter just kills me!  He's from Pajamas Media, which despite their name, are a good online news outlet.  If you like The Onion, I think you'll enjoy this.

The first couple of minutes are the funny bits so you can cut it off after he starts following Michelle Malkin's heckler around.

Pretty much speaks for itself...

What can I say... plumbers make good money, right?

Update:  I neglected to mention that this is baby butt crack and thus not offensive.  Just wanted to clarify.